Put Your Head on My Shoulder
by pokemon fan 98
Summary: One time May was the mother Daisy needed. One time May was the mother Jemma needed. And one time she was the mother both girls needed.
1. Daisy

_A/N: I've been in a huge Mama May mood recently, and this is the result. I know it's small, but I decided to break it into three parts, so each section can carry more weight. The first part has to be about May and Daisy, because... well, May's basically been her mom since season 1. Please enjoy._

* * *

She was there.

When they returned to the base after the explosion of the warhead, one team member short, she followed Daisy to her room. She could see that the girl wanted to run, as she always had after being devastated, and she knew that nothing she could say would stop her.

That didn't mean she wouldn't try to ease her pain.

Daisy didn't stop as she walked into her room with a quick stride. The door was swinging shut behind her when May pushed through it. May stood still as the door closed and Daisy looked at her.

The girl's face was swollen from fighting and crying, and for a second May saw a flash of anger cross her features. May met her gaze levelly, refusing to look away.

That was when Daisy's foundation cracked. Like the fractures that spiraled up her arms before she'd learned to control her powers, the grief that she'd bottled up broke the mask Daisy had worn in the hours since Lincoln's death. It wasn't a monumental change, but a collection of fault lines trembling at once, leaving her unstable.

Daisy sank down on her bed, her fist clenching on the edge of the mattress. "He didn't have to…"

May could hear the anger over the grief. "He wanted to save you," she said, as gently as she could.

"But I wanted him to live!" Daisy shouted.

The fault lines were only holding on tenuously, the fractures spreading too thin, and May went and gently seated herself by Daisy's side. She didn't know what to say, so she just put a hand on Daisy's back.

She saw the tears that fell hard and fast on Daisy's lap, glistening against her balled up fists. She noticed the way the girl looked at her, as if she were shocked May were staying in the sight of such weakness. May met her incredulous glance with as open one as she could, and saw something else flash in Daisy's eyes: need.

Daisy picked her legs up from the floor and shifted herself down onto the bed before looking at May, as if asking if it were okay. May had her mouth open but nodded, and let Daisy lay her head down on her lap.

She didn't know how long she sat there, gently petting at Daisy's hair in a cyclic, soothing motion, before she realized the girl was asleep. Daisy's slow, even breaths made May look down, and it was bittersweet to see the peaceful, sleeping face. She knew Daisy would be gone in the morning. She stayed with her for most of the night anyway.


	2. Jemma

She was there.

She saw the way Mack walked into the med-bay with great sorrowful steps, without (a noticeably absent) Fitz. She watched as Jemma's face fell, in awful slow motion as comprehension set in and the grief threatened to drown her from the inside.

The silence lasted only seconds before there was a change in that frozen, destroyed expression. Devastation stripped away her composure, making her flinch as if struck. Mack lunged forward to catch Jemma as her knees buckled. May was faster, and caught the girl up in her arms as they both landed roughly on the floor. She almost fell fully, but righted herself with Jemma still supported in her grip by digging her knees into the floor. Pain shot through her kneecaps, but it was nothing compared to the pain in Jemma's voice as she cried out her husband's name.

It was hard to believe there had been silence, as the sounds of grief became all May could hear. Jemma clutched at May's arm desperately, her fingers digging into the fabric of her jacket as if she thought by getting a tight enough grip, she could make herself stop. May knew that desperate feeling. Jemma was fully leaning on her, and sobbing as if her heart had been ripped out, and May was thankful that she'd decided to come to the med-bay in time to catch the girl.

May's pulse quickened as she drew Jemma closer to her. The girl seemed to be falling apart in her arms. She'd seen Jemma start unraveling without Fitz, but never in this bone-shattering way. It almost scared her for a second.

She put her hand to the back of Jemma's head, pulling her to her shoulder and keeping her arms tight about her. She didn't try to say anything. Nothing she could say would matter to Jemma in this moment.

Mack stood uncertainly two feet away, looking at May to ask what he should do. May gestured to the door, and he reluctantly walked out. May didn't move as she held onto Jemma, aside from the slight rocking motion she'd unconsciously started minutes before.

The girl's sobs lessened until the hitches in her breathing were fewer, and eventually stopped altogether. May wanted to feel relieved, but she knew what came after the initial tidal wave of grief was spent. She angled her head down and saw Jemma's gaze directed at the wall, closed off and distant, and rested her cheek atop her head to let her knew she wasn't as alone as she felt.

* * *

_A/N: There's the Mama May moment with Jemma. These two have had a great relationship since especially season three, and I don't see a lot of stories featuring it. I wanted to fix that, since I think May is a comforting mother figure to both Jemma and Daisy. In this story, May is there for the girls after significant loss: Daisy with Lincoln, Jemma with Fitz. The final section will be the three together. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think._


	3. Her Girls

She was there.

Until the end, she was with Phil, and each morning she woke with him beside her was an agonizing ecstasy, filling her with relief that he had stayed with her another night, and fear that it would be the last.

Eventually, it was the last, and that beautiful beach lost all its splendor. For that first day, everything lost its splendor, and she found it difficult to even look outside the window of the cottage they'd rented. When she was able to bring her eyes to those spectacular blue waves again, she saw no magic in them. Tahiti had nothing for her without him. She'd gone because she'd needed to be with him, and he'd needed her.

She had a feeling someone else needed her now, as she emerged from the worst of the fog grief had set her in. Two someones, whom she hadn't seen in months.

So she left the beach behind without reluctance, and went to the nearest store to buy a phone.

She knew Daisy had kept the same phone with her. The girl had told her she would, before she and Phil had retired. May dialed the number she knew by heart, and was unsurprised when it connected by the third ring.

"May?"

"It's me," she confirmed.

There was silence on Daisy's side, and May had to close her eyes against the pain. "Is he…?"

"Yes."

May could hear Daisy's breath tremble. She could picture her stepping backwards to brace herself against a wall, trying to stay strong as her foundation lost its support structure. She didn't say anything.

"Tell me where you are," May said.

Daisy told her their location, in a choked whisper that seemed to be all she could manage, and May disconnected the call.

It was half a day later by the time she reached the safe house. She stepped through the door and saw Jemma sitting at the kitchen table. Though her eyes were red from tears, May could clearly see the exhaustion in her face, and realized they hadn't found Fitz yet. May had barely gotten the door closed before Jemma jumped from her chair and ran to her. May pressed her hands against the girl's back, holding her tightly.

She held her for a few seconds before Jemma disentangled herself and wiped hastily at her eyes. "Daisy said you were coming."

"Where is she?" May asked.

"Sleeping," Jemma said. "We've been taking turns keeping watch."

May saw the fragility in Jemma's eyes and was surprised to find that her own grief was less intense than it had been minutes before. Still there, a constant reminder of everything she'd lost. It would never truly go away. But stepping through the door of the safe house had given her another directive, besides grieving the love of her life.

"Was it…" May stopped and waited for Jemma to finish her question. "Was it peaceful?"

May closed her eyes as Jemma's voice broke behind her. "Yes."

Jemma didn't say anything else. May thought she heard the smallest intake of breath from the scientist and continued on her path to Daisy. She could mourn with them both as soon as she'd assessed their initial reactions and made sure they weren't falling apart. Phil wouldn't want them to.

She walked to the bedroom and knocked lightly on the door, then entered without waiting for a response. Daisy was on the twin bed by the window, her eyes half open, and May almost paused at how empty the girl looked. Life seemed to enter her as soon as she spotted May, though, and Daisy pushed herself upright, eyes opening wide and fixing on her.

May didn't hesitate as she moved to her side. She sat down on the bed and opened her arms, and Daisy burrowed against her as if she were a child. She was trembling beneath May's touch. "I can't believe he's gone," Daisy said a few minutes later, her head on May's shoulder as May leaned against the wall.

May continued playing with Daisy's hair in soft, gentle strokes, her throat closing up. "I know."

It was all she could manage to say, but she thought Daisy knew everything she wanted to add: _I wanted more time with him. He didn't deserve to die. He loved you more than you know._

She became aware of Jemma standing hesitantly outside the room, and a small flick of her finger drew the girl over to her other side.

May had never known what it was like to have a child; to be the one to make things more bearable, just by being there. To literally bear their weight on your shoulders. She knew that Daisy and Jemma weren't children. She knew that she wasn't a mother.

But as the three sat nestled together on that bed, May's arms wrapped protectively around them, May knew that it didn't matter.

Daisy and Jemma were hers in every way that mattered.

* * *

_A/N: I know that season six is going to pick up a year after the end of season five, but for the purposes of this story, it's only been a few months. Daisy and Jemma have been searching for Fitz in bursts of space travel, with Mack and Yoyo travelling to find stray agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and a plan to meet up once Fitz has been located. _

_I really hope you liked this little story. I know I enjoyed writing about Mama May and her girls, and I'll probably write more along that vein eventually. There's just so much good characterization! But anyway, thanks for reading._


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